Dengue cases rise despite El Niño
By JM Agreda
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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CASES of Dengue in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have increased for the first eight weeks of the year despite the El Niño phenomenon.
From the 103 cases reported to the Department of Health (DOH)– Cordillera in 2009, the cases of dengue in the region has increased by 10 percent with 114 cases.
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The highest cases of dengue were registered in Ifugao with 42 cases, which resulted to two deaths already. Benguet has already reported 33 cases; Apayao has six; Kalinga has seven; and Mountain Province has five cases that have been reported to the DOH.
Only the province of Abra has no reported dengue cases yet.
Despite the occurrence of El Niño, Dr. Alexei Marrero said the mosquitoes increase in number because people are storing water in containers and drums where mosquitoes can lay eggs.
Marrero advised to cover water storage containers and to maintain cleanliness in the surroundings to prevent mosquitoes from further increasing in number.
Aedes egypti mosquitoes are known carriers of dengue.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website, symptoms of dengue range from a mild fever to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joints and rash.
According to the WHO website, there are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue.
The use of acetylsalicylic acid like aspirin and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen is not recommended because it may cause further complications to the suffering patient.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever with symptoms like fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and bleeding is a potentially lethal complication affecting mainly children.
